Goodbye, Summertime Fun

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With all the last-minute deal-making and back and forth among Cincinnati officials, some residents remain confused about details of the city's operating budget for this year. At least, that's the impression CityBeat gets based on its feedback.

Among the most asked-about items is exactly which city-owned swimming pools are affected by budget cuts to help reduce Cincinnati's $54.7 million deficit. In all, 19 of its 33 pools won't open next summer.

Also, recreation centers in Camp Washington and Carthage will close. Today is the last day the Camp Washington facility will be open, and the Carthage facility will close Jan. 14.

"We were just told Monday, so we're busy packing up boxes," said a woman who answered the telephone in Carthage.

The pool closures means Cincinnati will have 14 city-owned swimming pools left open. That compares to 18 pools operated by the city of Columbus, and 42 pools operated by the city of Cleveland.

Because Cincinnati's closed pools are located at recreation centers, they cannot easily be offered to a private sector firm for management, a city spokeswoman said. It's unclear yet what the Recreation Commission plans on doing with the two closed recreation center properties.

****UPDATE: As a commenter notes below, although the 14 facilities remaining open are listed as swimming pools on the city's Web site, some of them are -- in fact -- merely water-based attractions. Eight outdoor swimming pools will be open this summer. Thus, the city will have even fewer open-air pools available for use this summer.